If you can’t live beside a forest, make your own ‘potted’ forest. This seems to be the dictum followed by architect Luciano Pia in his incredible design of a five-floor apartment ‘25 Verde‘ in Turin, Italy. Envisaged as a forest with metallic trees, the foliage with its wholesome greenness is derived from a series of potted shrubs that peek out from the building. In essence, the expansive habitable scope of 25 Verde alludes to a fantastical treehouse right in the middle of a densely populated urban area.

Now of course, those who know their architecture would probably figure out that these plants are not there just for a gimmicky effect. Studies have shown that trees are quite effective in acting as natural barriers that can mitigate noise levels from the adjacent trees. And even beyond shielding against noise pollution, the plants of 25 Verde are efficient in reducing air pollution – with their organic capacity absorb pollutants resulting from car exhausts. When translated to figures, the 150 trees of the vertical forest/apartment proudly absorb a whopping 200,000 liters of carbon dioxide per hour.

Other than mitigating pollution, the selection of the plants and trees are also tailored to passive architectural techniques. For example, the choosing of deciduous trees makes their foliage block the sun during summer times, but allows the sunlight to be inducted during winters (due to the shading of leaves by the trees in these times of a year). Additionally, all of the 63 habitable units boast of terraces with vegetation, along with verdant plant-life sustained from their balconies.